Things to know about the Craft
*Today
the term WICCA refers to a religion that many (but not all)witches
practice. Wicca is an Earth-based religion that honors both the God and
the Goddess. The word WITCH comes from the old English words "wicce"
which means 'female witch" and "Wicca" meaning "wizard" A witch is
someone who uses magick in his or her everyday life. The term
"warlock" does NOT mean witch but "betrayer" or "one that has broken
an oath and because of that has been ostracized from the community.
*Learning about your magickal abilities is a process of self-discovery. One useful tool in such a process is a journal. If you don't already keep a journal, you might want to start one. As you learn more about Wicca and witchcraft, record your changing thoughts and feelings about yourself and the world around you. How you use your journal is up to you. Let it be fun! Include drawings or pictures from magazines if you like.
*We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces.
*We acknowledge a depth of power far greater then is apparent to the average person.
*We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment.
*We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as both masculine and feminine. We value neither gender above the other.
* We recognize both outer worlds and inner, psychological words, and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal and magickal exercises.
*We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy.
*We see religion, magick, and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the word and lives in it.
*Calling oneself a "witch" does not make a witch, but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations. A witch seeks to control the forces within him- or herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.
*We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
*Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy of life, is that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true, right, and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and beliefs.
*We are not threatened by debates on the history of the craft. We are concerned with our present and our future.
*We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian traditions.
*We work within Nature for that which contributes to our health and well being.
~*~ NEWS TIDBIT:
You can recognize some witches by the jewelry they wear. A teen aged witch in a Detroit suburb was told that she could not wear her pentacle necklace to school. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued in court that the prohibition violated her First Amendment rights under the US Constitution. The court decided the school was wrong, and the teen returned to school wearing the symbol of her Wiccan Faith.
~*~
In 1986, a federal appeals court ruled that Wicca is a legal religion. That means that the practice of Wicca is protected by the US Constitution. Ever since the ruling, more and more Wiccans have "come out of the broom closet". People estimate that there are between 100,000 and one million Wiccans in the US alone!
~*~Is "magick" with a "k" different from magic? You bet! Both words come from the same root, meaning "to be able, to have power," but magic is what an entertainer does on stage--card tricks, making quarters disappear, sawing a hapless volunteer in half. MAGICK is the realm of witches and may include spells, healing, the harnessing of psychic forces, and even divination.
*Learning about your magickal abilities is a process of self-discovery. One useful tool in such a process is a journal. If you don't already keep a journal, you might want to start one. As you learn more about Wicca and witchcraft, record your changing thoughts and feelings about yourself and the world around you. How you use your journal is up to you. Let it be fun! Include drawings or pictures from magazines if you like.
*We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces.
*We acknowledge a depth of power far greater then is apparent to the average person.
*We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment.
*We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as both masculine and feminine. We value neither gender above the other.
* We recognize both outer worlds and inner, psychological words, and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal and magickal exercises.
*We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy.
*We see religion, magick, and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the word and lives in it.
*Calling oneself a "witch" does not make a witch, but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations. A witch seeks to control the forces within him- or herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.
*We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
*Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy of life, is that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true, right, and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and beliefs.
*We are not threatened by debates on the history of the craft. We are concerned with our present and our future.
*We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian traditions.
*We work within Nature for that which contributes to our health and well being.
~*~ NEWS TIDBIT:
You can recognize some witches by the jewelry they wear. A teen aged witch in a Detroit suburb was told that she could not wear her pentacle necklace to school. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued in court that the prohibition violated her First Amendment rights under the US Constitution. The court decided the school was wrong, and the teen returned to school wearing the symbol of her Wiccan Faith.
~*~
In 1986, a federal appeals court ruled that Wicca is a legal religion. That means that the practice of Wicca is protected by the US Constitution. Ever since the ruling, more and more Wiccans have "come out of the broom closet". People estimate that there are between 100,000 and one million Wiccans in the US alone!
~*~Is "magick" with a "k" different from magic? You bet! Both words come from the same root, meaning "to be able, to have power," but magic is what an entertainer does on stage--card tricks, making quarters disappear, sawing a hapless volunteer in half. MAGICK is the realm of witches and may include spells, healing, the harnessing of psychic forces, and even divination.